Here's a look at the top storylines and big matchups from around the nation as we near kickoff on another Sunday of NFL football:

The Big Buzz: East vs. West

Head coach Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs are 2-0 against the NFC East so far this season. (AP Photo/TUSP, Jay Biggerstaff)

The mighty NFC East is crumbling, and the surprising AFC West is the wrecking ball.

Three weeks into the season, the normally ultra-competitive East sports a pair of winless teams in the Giants and Redskins, along with a one-win Eagles team. Only the 2-1 Cowboys have a winning record.

Paired with the AFC West this season by the NFL's schedule makers, the NFC East has taken a beating. East teams are just 1-4 against the West so far, with four more games between the divisions on tap this weekend: Giants at Chiefs, Eagles at Broncos, Cowboys at Chargers and Redskins at Raiders.

The resurgent AFC West, behind the undefeated Broncos and Chiefs, has an opportunity to reduce the NFC East's season to rubble today by taking care of business at home.

But, as it stands, the division has three wins total, and two of them came in games between NFC East foes, so, um, someone had to win (Dallas beat New York and Philadelphia beat Washington). Should the upstarts from out west continue to smack these guys again (Kansas City and San Diego already whipped the Eagles; Kansas City beat Dallas; Denver trounced the Giants), perhaps more will take note.

If the NFC East teams can't take advantage of these games, the division could be won by a team with an 8-8 or 7-9 record. One thing we know about the NFC East is that parity usually rules. Each team has enough confidence to go into rival cities and win road games, which often leads to 3-3 division records. To make up the difference, NFC East teams need to go 3-1 against other divisions. That won't happen if the East blows it this Sunday.

No quarterback's ever been this sharp in a three-game stretch to start a season. Quarterback rating: 134.7. Quarterback ratings of Manning's seasons in his 30s: 101.0, 98.0, 95.0, 99.9, 91.9, 105.8. In other words, he's playing well. The Eagles fly to Denver to try to derail Manning. I don't like their chances.

The winless Giants and Redskins will likely decide if the NFC East can salvage any respectability this season, but the outlook isn't good.

The Giants, only two seasons removed from winning a Super Bowl, looked legitimately hapless in a 38-0 embarrassment against the Panthers last week. They'll start a patchwork offensive line today against a Kansas City pass rush that has been one of the most fearsome in the league through three weeks.

• SI.com's Don Banks picks the Browns to upset the Bengals and expects rookie QB Mike Glennon to lead the Buccaneers over Cardinals.

• CBSSports.com columnist Pete Prisco likes the Texans over the Seahawks and the Lions over the Bears, while NFL Insider Jason La Canfora picks the Steelers over the Vikings and the Patriots over the Falcons.

• USA Today's panelists select Saints over Dolphins, Broncos over Eagles, Colts over Jaguars and Chiefs over Giants as their "Lock of the Week" picks.

• Of ESPN.com's 13 experts, only Ron Jaworski picks the Patriots to beat the Falcons, and only Keyshawn Johnson predicts a Jets victory over the Titans.

What they're saying

Detroit Lions wide receiver (81) Calvin Johnson on the field before a game against the Arizona Cardinals played at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale on Sunday, September 15, 2013. (AP Photo/John Cordes)

"Can't stand 'em," he said. "They're filling up the stadium a lot. A lot of Bears fans, so that's one reason we can't stand em. But we're going to have a good showing this week. We've had two good practices this week so far, guys are focused in.

"Like I said, we don't like those guys. It's going to be a good little showdown."

"Mike is not from Cleveland. I'm a Cleveland Brown," he said. "So he gave me a choice of taking three dollars and doing a little dancing for him out there. I said, 'Mr. Holmgren, I'm sorry ... I don't dance ... become a mascot type of guy.'

Remember that this was all very close to going very differently. The Buccaneers were reportedly very close to hiring Chip Kelly during the 2011 offseason, with Kelly reportedly changing his mind at the last moment to stay at Oregon. When Kelly spurned them, the Buccaneers went back to the drawing board and ended up surprisingly choosing Schiano. There's no guarantees that Kelly would have "fixed" what ails Freeman, but it seems fair to say he probably would have done a better job than Schiano & Co. have.

• The Saints will try to beat the Dolphins on the field today, but they scored a much more important victory over Miami by winning the teams' battle for Drew Brees in 2006 -- a signing which turned out pretty well for Brees and the Saints (and, ultimately, not so bad for then-Dolphins coach and current Alabama coach Nick Saban either): (via NOLA.com)

"We can sit back and kind of chuckle about it now," Brees said Thursday. "There's no hard feelings and you know what, everything happened the way it was supposed to. So I don't think about it for a second. I really don't. Obviously, coach Saban has gone on and probably would not trade his career path for anything either."

Gibbs continued: "For me, from the time I grew up as a young kid running around the hills of North Carolina, the only football team we could get was the Redskins. So from that time on, everything I've known or been a part of has been Redskins. I never, ever thought of it as anything negative; it's all been a positive. I think that's what I reflect on: I reflect on the song, the games and everybody being loyal Redskins people.

To dismiss the idea of an NFL team in London is folly. With NFL owners looking to unlock every untapped income source, an opening into the European market makes obvious sense. The internationalization of the NFL is not going to remain fixed at a couple games per year. It will not happen soon, perhaps not even during the present CBA that runs through 2020, but it will happen eventually. NFL international expansion is not a matter of if, but when.